Girls und Panzer: Supernatural Allies
by RaidenSilversword
Summary: With Ōarai Girl's High School facing being closed if they fail to win the Sensha-dō tournament, Anzu gets a surprising letter from a rather surprising source. Can Yukari Yakumo provide teams and tanks to help the underdog team win? Read and find out. -Contains Original Characters, and a slightly future timeline on the Gensokyo side of things. Rating may change, events pending.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey there folks. To those who're expecting updates on TML or Honourable End, don't worry, they'll get updates when I finish them up.

However, do please read and review this fic. It's an idea that was bouncing through my head for a while. Granted like a selection of the G&P Fanfics, it's a "What if Ōarai Girls High School gets help from an outside source" type, but here's the FUN part; What if their helper is Yukari Yakumo? Now I know there would be calls of "But that would make them all-powerful!" and similar, but I'm not giving Ōarai THAT much power. All the girls that Yukari provides, will be using their powers to maintain a human disguise, after all, Youkai "don't exist". My team picks are also based off a set of conditions I had; "Must look 15-18 in 20+ years time" being my most important. So, as you can tell, this Gensokyo is ahead in time compared to the games. That means, even if they appear or are mentioned, Reimu, Marisa, Sanae, Sakuya, and Alice won't be crewing tanks (and neither Marisa nor Alice are "human" anymore either... Well, Alice was a Youkai anyway). There are also nods to fan-pairings and ships, and there's a few OC's.

To save on making a massive Author Note, I'll end with my disclaimer.

Disclaimer; I do not own Touhou Project, or Girls und Panzer. I only own the storyline of this fic, and one of the two OC's that appear in this chapter, the second OC belongs to a friend of mine who has given me permission to use her.

Touhou Project belongs Team Shanghai Alice AKA ZUN.

Girls und Panzer belongs to its many premise owners (Re: I can't find exactly WHO is the original creator).

~ ~ ~

Chapter One: Ōarai gets help: Yukari Yakumo Makes a move?

~ ~ ~

It was a few days after Ōarai's loss to the St. Gloriana Girls Academy team, and the five tanks were already repaired and repainted back into more functional colours, and Student Council President Anzu Kadotani was going through her daily paperwork. Off to the short red-head's left, was a bag of dried sweet potatoes, while to her right was a pile of completed paperwork. In front of her, however, was a letter that held her interest...

"To Student Council President Kadotani Anzu

Congratulations on your near-win against St. Gloriana Girls Academy, perhaps you will do better next time? I'm writing this letter to offer you a most _unique_ opportunity..."

Anzu had to raise an eyebrow at this point, pausing her reading to take a bite of the sweet potato in her hand, before resuming.

"...To give Ōarai some much-needed manpower and armament boost in the form of several tanks, recreated in their glory by my company, Kyoukai Heavy Industries, with crews provided by the Kamishirasawa Academy. Please call the number provided when you have reached your decision, which I assure you, should be highly beneficial to your school if you accept.

Yours sincerely,

Yakumo Yukari, Company President."

Putting the letter down, Anzu frowned slightly.

"Momo, Yuzuko! Get in here!"

Yelling for the Student Council's PR Manager and Vice President respectively, Anzu waited for the half-glasses wearing Momo, and the relatively quiet Yuzuko to enter the short girl's office.

"Read this."

Thrusting the letter to her two underlings/colleagues, she waited for them to read it.

"What do we do about this?"

"I say we take it. We get more tanks and crews for no cost or risk to ourselves."

That was the black-haired Momo speaking up first, her eye-glass twinkling in the slightly dull light.

The well-endowed and brown-haired Yuzuko took a few more moments before she spoke up with her own opinions, which while accepting of the offer, did raise a few concerns.

"As much as we need this help, there must be a catch somewhere..."

"Hmmm..."

Taking her two underlings' opinions, Anzu nodded her head a few times, her sweet potatoes all but forgotten for the moment.

"I say we take the offer... We have nothing to lose that we're not already in danger of losing, and everything to gain."

A fair point, given that Ōarai _needed_ to win the Sensha-dō Tournament to save their school from being closed down. Picking up the phone, the red-head dialled the number from the letter.

"_Hello, Kyoukai Heavy Industries, Yakumo Ran speaking."_

_Yakumo...? Is she related to this Yukari person?_

"Hello? This is Kadotani Anzu of Ōarai Girls High School, I got a letter from the company president..."

"_Ah, Kadotani-san... We've been waiting to hear from you. I'll put you through to Yukari-sama in just a second."_

After a moment, another voice, a more elegant, smooth, and musical voice, spoke up.

"_Is that Anzu-chan? Hello there..."_

"Yakumo-sama? If you'll permit me, I'll be frank; I have to know something... If we take this deal of yours, what's in it for you?"

For a moment, there was silence. Anzu was worried she might have offended the woman with her question.

"_What's in it for me? Why nothing more than showing the Sensha-dō world how great my company is, and by extension; Ōarai's team. I'm fully aware of the situation your school is facing, and to be honest; There's a very good chance you won't win if you try it solo."_

Anzu had to admit it; Yukari made a _very_ good point and sales pitch. Ōarai's numbers were just too few to match schools like Saunders, Pravda, or Kuromorimine, and even if they _did_ find more tanks, there was no guarantee that they could get crews for them, or even if the tanks would work.

"... How do we sign the deal, Yakumo-sama?"

"_I'll bring the paperwork with me in a few days when you receive the first two tanks and teams that we will provide. You needn't worry about their educations either, a tutor from their school will be coming with them to teach their classes while they are with you."_

"Thank you very much, Yakumo-sama... We look forwards to meeting with you in person."

"_And I, you... Anzu-chan... Now, until Friday morning..."_

With an amused tone of voice, the woman on the other end of the phone hung up.

Putting the phone back in its cradle, Anzu sighed with relief. In just three days, they would have two more tanks and their crews backing them up...

~ ~ ~ Kyokai Heavy Industries HQ ~ ~ ~

Putting the phone down, the Sage of Youkai smiled... Things were going exactly as planned... Brushing several strands of blonde hair from her face, Yukari Yakumo glanced at the other blonde in the room.

"Things are going exactly the way we predicted they would, Ran..."

"I never doubted they would, Yukari-sama... May I ask what your _real_ motive was? It couldn't _just_ be to promote the business and save Ōarai Girl's High School, could it?"

The Kyūbi-no-Kitsune fixed her master with her golden-blonde stare, a delicate eyebrow raised questioningly as she called Yukari's true motivations into question.

"Why, Ran... Your words wound me so, so much..."

Ever the dramatic, Yukari held a hand to her forehead as she gave a theatrical swoon.

"But really, I have three motives for this... If we help Ōarai, they have a significantly greater chance to win the tournament. The more matches they win, with our tanks helping, the more business we'll get as a result. And most importantly; I want to be entertained. Helping a no-name school with nothing to lose and everything to gain win, would keep me amused for quite some time."

Of course, _everything_ had to lead back to Yukari's enjoyment. Of course, if the reality-warping Youkai of Boundaries was entertained, that meant everyone else wasn't being hassled or trolled... Or run afoul of her sense of "humour"...

"So Ran, how many of Keine-chan's students are ready to go?"

"Two so far; Shooting Star, and Hellcat are all ready to go. Kiren and Chireiden will be ready in two weeks."

Looking up from the list of teams, Ran watched as her master clasped her hands in front of her face, and... Were those glasses reflecting the light and shining in a scary manner? When did she...?

"Excellent..."

Sometimes, it was scary when she did that... Suppressing a shudder, Ran put the list down.

"I'll call Kamishirasawa-Sensei, and let her know."

"You do that, Ran..."

~ ~ ~ Ōarai Girls High School, Sensha-dō Practise Field and Air Field, three days later ~ ~ ~

"Why did you get me up this early for girls that aren't even bothering to be on-time?"

Trying and failing to suppress a yawn, black-haired Mako Reizei glared at the Student Council as they walked down the assembled teams in front of each of their tanks.

"Don't worry, Reizei-san, they'll be here soon."

As ever, Anzu was snacking on her dried sweet potatoes, while she waited. Though, she too, was apprehensive at how late the new tanks and teams were.

"I can hear an engine! They're almost here!"

Dark Brown-haired Yukari Akiyama, the resident tank-nut pointed excitedly into the air as a large, black spot slowly grew larger in their eyes as it descended. When it was large enough to make out distinctly, the tank-nut was giddy with excitement...

"It's...! It's an Antonov An-124!"

True to the girl's words, the Russian heavy-duty Transport Plan began its final approach, the landing gear extending as they did. After touching down, the nose section raised up as a ramp deployed and the front landing gear retracted. After a few moments, two tanks rumbled out of the aircraft, closely followed by a Willys MB LUV. Almost expectantly, twenty-one pairs of eyes turned to Yukari, as they waited for the inevitable yelling of what the approaching armour was.

A... A Geschützwagen III/IV Hummel, and an M10 "Wolverine" Tank Destroyer! They're amazing!"

And of course, the teen didn't fail to disappoint, correctly identifying the Self-Propelled Gun and Tank Destroyer as the two vehicles came to a halt, a dozen feet from the crowd. On the tanks, several hatches popped open as the crew disembarked.

The Ōarai girls had to restrain themselves from gasping in surprise; The girls were beautiful... A uniform consisting of a black blouse, khaki skirt and slacks, and a blue tie, all complimenting their bishōjo looks. From the M10, five girls jumped to the ground. Two of them, a red-head with twin braids framing her head, and a brunette, landed with feline grace. Next to them, a girl with green-tinted hair clung to the brunette shyly. Next to them, an aqua-haired girl looked a little like a lost puppy as she stood next to a girl with black hair.

"I'm Kaenbyou Rin, but please call me Orin. I'm the team commander for Hellcat Team."

That was the red-head speaking, the next one up was the black-haired girl.

"Houjuu Nue, I'm the Gunner."

"Kasodani Kyouko, I'm the loader."

That was the turquoise-haired girl, who seemed quite upbeat, despite looking like a lost puppy. The next to speak, was the brunette.

"Yakumo Chen's the name, and I'm the driver. Pleased t' meetcha."

Lastly, the girl with the green-tinted hair spoke up.

"D...Daiyousei, I'm... I'm the radio operator..."

And next, it was the turn of the Hummel's crew to disembark, though only four of them could be seen. A girl with pink hair, a bifauxnen with teal hair, a girl with short blonde hair and a ribbon above her left ear, and a girl with deep black hair.

"Lorelei Mystia, I'm the radio operator."

That was the pinkette speaking, a musical tone to her voice. She was followed up by the bifauxnen, who seemed slightly ill-at-ease with the stares.

"I'm... Wendi. Night Wendi my friends call me "Nightbug Wriggle", I'm the driver."

Next up, was the blonde with the hair ribbon.

"I'm Rumia, one of the loaders."

And then it was the turn of the black-haired girl.

"Kurosaya Haruka, Loader."

How very... Concise... But wasn't there...?

"Doesn't the Hummel require a six-person crew?"

Trust Yukari the tank-nut to know that... Which caused the Self-Propelled-Gun's crew to look between themselves with a slight smile, before Mystia spoke up.

"You're right... We're a gunner and a commander down, she'll be here in a moment... She's got a flair for showing off..."

"I heard that, Mystia-san."

Inside the armoured fighting compartment, the sound of someone standing could be heard, along with a hand gripping the top of said compartment. A second later the owner of said hand could be seen as she performed a one-handed flip over the rim of the fighting compartment, before landing on the hull. Standing upright, the girl grinned, one hand holding a... Witch's hat on her head? Black with a brown belt where a ribbon would normally be, sat atop blonde hair that cascaded half-way down the girl's back with a braid going from above her left ear, round the back of her head. Along with startling blue-purple eyes, the girls had silvery-blue star-shaped earrings eight centimetres long and wide. Rather than the school's uniform, the girl was wearing a long-sleeved black vest with a white off-the-shoulders cropped top. Under that, was a silver-and-black item of clothing like a girdle with a large, wide leather belt, while she had a pair of black shorts under a three-quarter knee-length skirt exposing the right leg. Hanging off the girdle-like item was a set of straps, one passing along the left hip, with a larger star hanging off one strap. Topping off the ensemble, were black thigh-high stockings, and ankle-high brown boots.

"Name's Hoshi. Kirisame-Margatroid Hoshi, Commander, Gunner for Team Shooting Star, and over-all commander of the Kamishirasawa Academy tanks."

Jumping off the tank, the blonde stood with her team-mates, both hands behind her head in a relaxed posture. Thankfully, the jeep that had pulled up, disgorged its occupants. Two more blondes, and a woman with long, two-toned hair, purple top, fading down to brown. While the two blondes were wearing suits, they looked different from each other. The one with the shorter hair, was dressed in a black suit with a blue shirt that seemed to to have white patterns on it, though the closed jacket covered the majority of the patterns. The longer-haired blonde, who's head was was covered with a white mob cap with a red ribbon at the front, and had red ribbons in her hair, was clad in a white suit with a red tie. As for the purple-and-brown haired woman, she wore a black and white dress with long strips of black ribbon going across the middle and white ribbons across the arms.

Of the trio, the white-suited woman carried both a frill-draped pink-white parasol and a black briefcase. Approaching the Ōarai crews, she stopped in front of the Student Council trio. Looking at the trio, they felt like she was looking _through_ them, rather than at them.

"Anzu-chan, it's a pleasure to meet you face-to-face at last."

That voice... That musical, yet elegant and smooth, yet slightly amused voice... It was the same one from the telephone a few days ago...

"Y...Yakumo-sama...?"

"In the flesh."

"It... It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

How could she be so elegant and beautiful? That had to be breaking dozens of rules, right? Trying to get her nerves under control, Anzu nearly missed the other blonde walking over.

"Yukari-sama, should we go somewhere private for this?"

"No, no need my dear Ran... It's only a formality to keep the Sensha-dō ruling committees happy, after all. It's not against the rules for a non-registered school to aid a registered school by providing crews and tanks, or for a company to directly sponsor a school either."

"...You're correct, Yukari-sama..."

"Of course. Now, Anzu-chan, shall we get these papers signed?"

"Y...Yes, of course..."

Blinking in surprise for a moment as her attention was called again, Anzu forced herself to focus on what was going on. Following Yukari over to the jeep, Anzu looked at the forms she had to sign to make everything legal.

After she was done and had handed the forms back to Yukari, the short red-head looked up at the blonde woman questioningly.

"Is it really that easy?"

"Why, yes it is. As I told Ran; There's no rules against a school that isn't registered for the Sensha-dō tournaments, like Kamishirasawa Academy, from helping a registered school like Ōarai. And besides, with Kyoukai Heavy Industries sponsoring your school, your chances of winning will only increase."

_And will provide me with more business than I can shake my parasol at. It'll give me justification for adding branches to KHI..._

Not voicing that particular thought, Yukari returned the forms to her suitcase. Waving the woman with two-tone hair over, she smiled slightly.

"Allow me to introduce Hijiri Byakuren, she'll be the tutor for the teams that Keine-chan provides to help you guys."

"Pleased to meet you, Anzu-chan."

Bowing politely, Byakuren gave the student council president a warm smile as she lead the shorter girl back to the assembled teams, who were in the middle of a get-together with the Kamishirasawa Academy teams, getting to know a bit about the girls and look over the tanks.

"Why don't you introduce me to your friends?"

"R...Right..."

Nodding, Anzu attracted the attention of the Ōarai girls.

"Everyone, this is Hijiri Byakuren-sensei, she's the tutor for the Kamishirasawa Academy girls while they're here."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Thank you for taking care of us while we are here with you."

Bowing politely to the rest of the Ōarai girls, the Buddhist Nun-turned-tutor smiled warmly at them while each of the twenty-one remaining Ōarai team members introduced themselves to her.

~ ~ ~ Training Field, two days later ~ ~ ~

"Kawashima-san, I have to tell you this... Your accuracy is _terrible_, no way around it. You've missed targets as large as a Churchill Mk. VII tank at pretty much point-blank range."

Facing the black-haired Loader and Gunner for the student council's Czech-built Panzer 38(t), Hoshi frowned. She had taken a turn in each of the tanks of the Ōarai teams, getting a feel for how good each of the girls were at each role in their tanks.

"You're a great loader, but you're too trigger-happy and you can't aim to save your life. Kadotani-san is much better at shooting, and it will give her something more to do than just answer the radio."

"Who are you to tell me what to do, huh?"

"A far more competent gunner than you, and technically the second-in-command of this gestalt team."

Shooting the hair-trigger tempered PR Manager's argument down before she could even begin it properly, the blonde leaned back in the turret.

"Try it for the next match. If I'm mistaken and Kadotani-san proves worse in a combat situation, then I shall apologise. Until then, this test is over."

Standing up, the teen climbed out of the 38(t) and walked back to the hangers. So far, in the last two days, she had sat with each member of the five Ōarai tank crews and checked their competency in each role of their respective tanks, seeing how well they could cope with taking over another role. Out of all of the tanks, the only crews she could find fault with were the flighty M3 Lee crew "Rabbit" team, a team of six first-years, and the three members of the student council's "Duck" team... Yuzuko was a highly competent driver, and Anzu could handle the radio well... But Momo was a terrible gunner, compared to the decently-skilled Anzu. If they could fix Duck team's problems with a simple change in the crew roles, then that was one less problem to fix up.

Heading into the hanger, she found a certain dark-brown haired girl leaning against her Hummel.

"Akiyama-san, you weren't waiting for me, were you?"

"H...Huh? Kirisame-Margatroid-san..."

"Just call me Hoshi, would you? It's a mouthful to say my last names."

"R...Right... Erm, I was wondering if you and your friends would consider joining Anglerfish team for some cake at this great local cafe?"

"Sure, I'd like that..."

~ ~ ~

A/N: Here we go folks, hope you enjoy this chapter.

Now, to stave off all the "Who is Hoshi?" and "Who is Haruka?" questions, I'll answer now;

Hoshi is an Original Character I created, and daughter of Marisa and Alice. For record's sake, she's a Magician Youkai, Marisa and Alice having both become full-fledged Youkai by this point.

Haruka is an Original Character a friend created and gave me permission to use. She's a White Wolf Tengu, like Momiji is, but with black hair instead of white.

And before you ask why I didn't put Cirno on a tank to complete "Team 9", answer this; Would YOU let the nine-ball crew a tank? She's too hyperactive and random to crew a tank. The same can be said for Sunny Milk, Luna Child, and Star Sapphire. After all, Daiyousei is the only "sensible" fairy.

As ever; REVIEWS FOR THE REVIEW GOD!

Comments and critique is welcome, EXCEPT on the writing style.


	2. Café Shenanigans

A/N: I'll address select reviewer concerns here;

Palver7; I'm aware of what Daiyousei's name means, however as unlikely a name as it is, it's still more likely than the name "Wriggle Nightbug". If I thought it wouldn't be believable as a name, I would have given her an alias like Wriggle got.

Disclaimer; I do not own Touhou Project, or Girls und Panzer. I only own the storyline of this fic, and one of the two OC's that appear in this chapter, the second OC belongs to a friend of mine who has given me permission to use her.

Touhou Project belongs Team Shanghai Alice AKA ZUN.

Girls und Panzer belongs to its many premise owners (Re: I can't find exactly WHO is the original creator).

~ ~ ~ Chapter Theme Song: : / / w w w . youtube watch ? v=eFjjO_lhf9c (Put it together in the address bar.) ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~Chapter Title: Café Shenanigans; Grey and Blonde butt heads?!~ ~ ~

_Last Time;_

_Heading into the hanger, she found a certain dark-brown haired girl leaning against her Hummel._

_"Akiyama-san, you weren't waiting for me, were you?"_

_"H...Huh? Kirisame-Margatroid-san..."_

_"Just call me Hoshi, would you? It's a mouthful to say my last names."_

_"R...Right... Erm, I was wondering if you and your friends would consider joining Anglerfish team for some cake at this great local café?"_

_"Sure, I'd like that..."_

~ ~ ~ Now ~ ~ ~

"Shall we get going then, Hoshi-san?"

"Just give me a second to take my jacket off and grab my things, I was just riding the 38(t) with Kawashima-san."

Responding to the brown-haired Yukari's question, the blonde-haired Hoshi took off the black leather trenchcoat she had been wearing over her school uniform, before stowing it in a footlocker by the Hummel and retrieved a shoulder bag and her trademark witch's hat from inside the same footlocker. After making sure both hat and bag were securely on head and shoulder, she pulled out a phone with a black-and-white case and, true to both her name and reoccurring star-related theme, a little silver star-shaped phone charm, from the bag. Checking it for any messages or missed calls and finding none, she dialled a number from the address book.

"Mystia-san? Hey, it's Hoshi. Is everyone with you? That's good, saves time... Listen, how soon can you guys get to the school gates? Akiyama-san has invited us all out to go to a café with the rest of her team. Okay, see you in a few minutes. Bye."

Putting the phone back in her bag, the blonde turned back to her current companion with a smile.

"They'll meet us at the gates shortly, Mystia-san told me that they were all just chilling out in one of the vacant houses that the school is letting us use while we're here."

"I... I see..."

Responding to Hoshi's smile with one of her own, Yukari gestured towards the open hanger door.

"Shall we get going?"

"Sure. I don't want to still be here when Kawashima-san gets back in with the 38(t)... She wasn't happy when I told her bluntly how her accuracy is absolutely terrible."

Chatting idly as they headed for the school gates, the pair soon met up with the other nine girls that made up the two tank crews of the Kamishirasawa Academy.

"Say, Akiyama-san, wasn't today the match-up draws?"

"Hm? Yeah. Nishizumi-dono went with the Student Council President and the Vice-President to draw lots. She said she'd meet us at the café though."

Presently, the girls made it to a rather quaint-looking café with a less-than-subtle tank theme. Already waiting were the rest of Yukari's team-mates; Miho Nishizumi, Mako Reizei, Saori Takebe and Hana Isuzu, when the eleven-strong band met up with them. With Yukari rejoining her team-mates, the fifteen girls spread themselves across a trio of tables, while conversations all resumed after they were all seated, Yukari predictably starting it all off again with another tank-related question.

"Say, Hoshi-san... Why is it, you're both the Commander and the Gunner for your Hummel? Surely it can't be the most effective set-up..."

"Quite easy, really... Even though we're all cross-trained in each-other's roles on our tanks, I excel at both of my roles; I'm a great shot with the fifteen centimetre howitzer, and like any good Commander, I can keep calm under both pressure and enemy fire."

Lacing her fingers and resting her chin on them, the blonde fixed the brown-haired girl with her blue-purple eyes.

"Anything else about us you wish want to know? I'm sure you're just _dying_ to ask us all about ourselves."

"I have a question for Chen-san..."

The speaker this time, was the red-orange-haired Saori sitting next to Yukari.

"When you introduced yourself, you said your family name was "Yakumo"... Are you related to either of the women who came with the paperwork for Kadotani-san?"

"Aheheheheh... Yeah, sorta... Ran-shama is my mother by adoption, and she's Yukari-shama's daughter by the same. I don't know or remember who my real mother is, and I don't mind... I love my Ran-shama so much regardless."

For a moment, silence followed the brown-haired girl's response, before Saori blushed and hung her head apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"Don't worry about it, like I said; I'm happy with Ran-shama, she's as good as my mother."

Shrugging off Saori's words, Chen looked over to to the Anglerfish team.

"Say, how'd we order the cakes?"

"You press the buzzer in the middle, and it brings a waitress over."

Looking down at the table, Chen smiled and nodded her gratitude.

"Thanks Akiyama-san."

With everyone having set down their menus, the sounds of the three table's buzzers, shaped like little tanks and modelled after the sound of tank cannons firing, rung out, drawing a waitress over to the group.

"Are you all ready to order?"

The first to speak up, was Hana, speaking for the Anglerfish team;

"We'd like one of the combo platters please; Three Chocolate Cakes, one Strawberry Tart, one Lemon Pie, one Vanilla Cake, and New York Cheesecakes."

On one side, the five girls of Hellcat team were in a brief discussion over cakes.

"We'll go with a combo with a Boston Cream Pie, chocolate cheesecake, and Esterhazy torte."

And on the other side of the five Ōarai girls, Hoshi's Shooting Star team, were finishing their own discussion.

"We'll go with two slices of layer cake, two slices of prinzregententorte, and a mille-feuille please."

"Coming right up, they'll be along in just a few moments."

Giving the fifteen girls a smart salute after writing down the orders, the waitress turned on her heel to get their cake order processed as several other tables' buzzers went off signalling that they too, were ready to order. After a few minutes, a trio of little trucks, each pulling a few small trailers loaded with each table's order pulled onto the tables.

"Heh, they're cute, and whoever came up with the idea to make tank-shaped cakes is a genius."

Teal-haired Wriggle, or rather "Wendi", smiled at the sight as she spoke, handing her table's cakes around.

"I totally agree with you, they're adorable."

With a nod of her head, the aqua-haired Kyouko, the proverbial "lost puppy" of the group, and Orin's loader, agreed with the Firefly Youkai. With everyone by now having their cakes of choice, the girls all indulged in a girl's favourite guilty pleasure; The sweet tooth. After a few moments, Hoshi looked up from her mille-feuille to Miho.

"Say, Nishizumi-san, how'd the draws go?"

"Ah... W...We drew Saunders... I'm sorry everyone, we're facing such a strong school right out the gate..."

Looking down sadly, Miho bit her lip as she stared at her cake. For her part, the star-named blonde raised an eyebrow as she pulled a sheaf of papers from her bag, the top page defining the contents as notes on each of the schools entered in the tournament.

"Let's see, Saunders... Hmmm... They're not so tough. Sure, they're rich as hell... But they only ever field Shermans and their variants like the Firefly. First round is ten tanks, so it's seven against ten. Better than the two-to-one odds you had before. The only problem is how many Fireflies they might field. I'd guess at two to three, tops."

"Hoshi-san... How many notes do you have...? And when did you make them?"

Staring at the blonde, black-haired Mako wondered just when the teen had had time to make those notes amongst the practise schedule she had run with them.

"I have notes on _every_ school in the tournament, and I didn't. These were written by Daiyousei while she and the others watched footage of the other schools' previous matches."

Explaining the notes and drawing attention to the timid green-haired Radio Operator on the M10, Hoshi was about to go back to her cake, when two girls in uniforms of grey blouses and black shirts walked past.

"Sub-commander?"

Almost as one, everyone turned to the two newcomers. One with dark-brown hair and a cold expression, but the other, grey-haired and a sharp, mocking expression.

"Oh, I guess that would be "Former-Sub Commander" now."

Adding a sneer to that, the grey-haired teen smirked at the cowering Miho, who's eyes met those of the girl with dark-brown hair. The tension that had suddenly filled the previously happy gathering, was thick and heavy, almost knife-cutting thickness...

"Onee-chan..."

Whispering that, trying not to be heard, the girl was out of luck, as the members of all three teams heard her and glanced over with a mixture of raised eyebrows from the Kamishirasawa Academy teams, and surprise from her Anglerfish team-mates.

Maho Nishizumi regarded her younger sister with her cool, level gaze for a moment after glancing to the two tables either side of Miho's.

"I didn't think you'd still be doing Sensha-dō."

Just like her level gaze, the elder sibling's voice was rather emotionless.

"From what we heard, she didn't. But there's something more important in Sensha-dō than just winning some tournament trophy, _especially_ when there are lives at stake."

For a moment, there seemed to be no reaction made by anyone, but after that moment passed, Maho's brown eyes met the blue-purple eyes of Hoshi and narrowed slightly.

"And just who, pray tell, are you?"

"Kirisame-Margatroid. Hoshi Kirisame-Margatroid. Commander and Gunner of Shooting Star team's Hummel, and nominal commander of the teams from Kamishirasawa Academy."

Returning the teen's disapproving gaze with a smirk, the blonde tilted her hat back with a finger like a cowboy with a stetson.

"I know all about your school's iron-clad rules, and how they exemplify victory at any cost. Answer me this; If the crew of that tank had been hospitalised or worse, because they weren't saved... Just how long do you think Sensha-dō would have been allowed to continue for? Not very. So give her all the stick you want for costing your school it's precious winning streak, but she did the right thing saving her comrades. That makes her a hero to me and all of us from Kamishirasawa Academy."

The silence that followed, was metaphorically deafening. As Miho reddened from blushing and Maho remained as expressionless as ever, Erika's temper was flaring at the blonde-haired teen's words.

_How __**dare**__ she say that about Kuromorimine and the Nishizumi-ryuu of Sensha-dō!_

Glaring at Hoshi with enough raw hatred to be classed as a "lethal glare" were looks able to physically kill people, the grey-haired girl strode angrily in front of the star-named girl's table.

"How _dare_ you criticise the prestigious Nishizumi-ryuu and our methods! You can't even dress properly for the public eye, with that hat! You're not a five-year old girl, you should grow up and leave fantasies of witchcraft and magic behind!"

For the second time, the café grew quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Trying to leave with some dignity and without much more vitriol, Maho spoke up.

"Let's go."

She stated simply, before she and Erika turned away to leave. Erika glanced back and smirked, her temper mostly spent.

"You're facing Saunders in the first match, make sure you don't lose so badly you end up damaging the Nishizumi-ryuu name."

"Now, you're just being rude."

Turning slightly to face the retreating pair, Hoshi stood up slowly as Erika stopped walking and turned to face her.

"I find you participating in Sensha-dō 'Rude'."

She stated, with a cold stare.

"You're all from no-name schools, there's an unspoken rule that everyone knows: Schools that will just embarrass Sensha-dō should stay out of the tournament."

"It'd sure be ironic if one of those teams that would "embarrass Sensha-dō" beat the Veteran schools that all sat around their Ivory towers and glass castles coming up with that biased rule."

Mako said calmly, as she continued to eat her cake.

"An ivory tower in a castle made of glass... That's your school of Sensha-dō, and both Ōarai and Kamishirasawa Academy will become chips that crack your castle. I will tear your style down with my bare hands, and show you just how elitist your precious school is."

Following on the Anglerfish team's driver, Hoshi's words were like a salt-covered knife in a wounded pride. Erika's temper flared back up as she covered the short distance between where she was standing and the witch hat-wearing blonde teen.

"I've had enough of your mouth, you insolent brat!"

And rather unexpectedly, she swung for Hoshi, whom leaned back to avoid the punch. The dodge almost worked, almost. Erika's fist missed the blonde's head, but caught the brim of the witch's hat and knocked it to the floor. In almost the same motion, the grey-haired teen put her foot down on the black hat and dragged it back.

"... Get your foot off my hat."

"Or what? Grow up, you're just being pretentious and immature."

Amongst the Kamishirasawa Academy teams, there were a mixture of sighs and girls face-palming, even a "she shouldn't have done that" coming from Orin. In response to Erika's barb, Hoshi simply grabbed the girl's blouse by the collar and forced her back three steps before letting go and picking her hat back up.

"Mystia-san, hold my hat. This woman and I are going to finish this, outside."

Handing her hat to the Night-Sparrow Youkai, Hoshi grabbed Erika by the shoulder and dragged her outside.

"You want to make something of this? You want to stomp on the hat that my parents made for me by hand? The thing I own that is most precious to me? You can insult me, my friends, my school, and my allies all day long. But the instant you make this physical and stomp on my hat, you make this personal. You wanted to fight, so bring it."

Barely moving into a fighting stance, Hoshi caught Erika's fist with her hand and held it in her grip.

"Let go!"

Trying to free her hand, Erika caught a glimpse of the blonde's eyes. They were cold and expressionless, like Maho's were... Those intense blue-purple eyes showed no trace of anger, sadness, or any other emotion at all, and as much as she hated to admit it... It scared her.

Rather than release the Kuromorimine student's fist, Hoshi simply lifted her arm above both girls heads before pushing forward and down, making Erika's arm bend. Further increasing the force, the blonde forced the teen to her knees.

"Hoshi, that's enough. Let her go."

Stepping outside, Haruka spoke up in a relatively quiet but forceful tone of voice. One, that Erika was glad for, since it made the blonde let go right away. Turning her back on Erika, Hoshi headed back to the café. Halting several steps from the door, she looked over her shoulder at Erika.

"Make sure you never find yourself in my gunsights, because your tank will be defeated before mine will be."

Movement to her left, then caught her attention; Maho heading outside.

"Nishizumi-san, I can at least respect your abilities as a leader and a commander. Reign your subordinate in, or at least her tongue and temper, please. It'll get her in trouble with the wrong people otherwise."

And at that, she headed back in after Haruka, leaving a puzzled and bemused Maho, and a terrified Erika outside.

~ ~ ~ End for now ~ ~ ~

A/N: And gonna end it there, folks. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Sorry to all the Erika fans out there, but at this early stage, she IS a btch...

To those who think Hoshi is over-reacting to getting her hat stomped on, and being too cocky and egoistical where the "I'll crush your style with my bear hands" part comes in, well... Look at how much she put up with first. Plus, she gets pretty personal over her hat. Were she not having to hide her powers, Erika would have faced a Master Spark. As to her boast; She's self-confident, and hates bully-types. To her, Erika and the Nishizumi-ryuu is a bullying school of Sensha-dō, so she must destroy it.

As ever; Read and review. Reviews make me feel happy.

No critique on the writing style though.


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